Civil-military ties a must for flight safety

The civil aviation and the air force need to cooperate with each other more to ensure flight safety because they share the airspace, a seminar was told yesterday.

The speakers also said the local aviation industry should catch up with modern technology to overcome the emerging challenges of flight safety. People involved in flight operation have to learn new skills as the technologies are changing fast, they said.

The remarks came at the seminar on International Flight Safety 2017. Themed “Safety is not only risk management, it is a mindset”, the seminar was held on November 6-8 at Bangladesh Air Force's (BAF's) Convention Hall in Dhaka.

BAF and Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) jointly organised the programme where experts and stakeholders discussed issues like use of modern technology, prevention of human errors, ensuring user-friendly aviation environment, managing operation safety in UN missions, and overcoming safety difficulties of mountain flying.

Speaking at the closing ceremony as the chief guest, Prime Minister's Security Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique said flight safety was of utmost importance due to a tremendous increase in the number of flight operations and fast technological advancement.

The local aviation industry has to innovate to address the challenges, he said.

CAAB Chairman Air Vice-Marshal M Naim Hassan said the insights derived from opinion sharing, case studies, and analyses during the seminar would be helpful for safety management.

The seminar brings “noteworthy reflection of civil-military cooperation”, said Air Commodore M Mortaza Kamal, director of Flight Safety of BAF, in his welcome address.

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Abu Esrar and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (operations and training) Air Vice-Marshal Mashiuzzaman Serniabat were also present at the ceremony.

The seminar brought together officials from China, India, France, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, Kenya, the Maldives, Nepal and Russia.